ALSACAT:

As its name suggests, ALSACAT is my comprehensive catalog of UFO sighting reports in Alsace, the region is the North-East of France, whether they are "explained" or "unexplained".

The ALSACAT catalog is made of case files with a case number, summary, quantitative information (date, location, number of witnesses...), classifications, all sources mentioning the case with their references, a discussion of the case in order to evaluate its causes, and a history of the changes made to the file. A general index and thematic sub-catalogs give access to these Alsatian case files.

Case of Wasigenstein, at the end of the summer, about 1999:

Case number:

ALSACAT-1990-00-00-WASIGENSTEIN-1

Summary:

One "Nicolas" had reported on the web forum of the Alsatian association of ufology and astronomy SPICA, that at the Wasigenstein, around 1999, in the summer, he had seen a "floating green orb."

He was with a group of about ten young people who were on for a night picnic on the ruins of the castle and to enjoy the end of the summer holidays. The witness and a friend were looking for small wood for a barbecue, when they heard a buzz "like electrical" and then saw "an orb flying at the first branch of the surrounding trees." He thinks that it was about less than one meter in diameter, the color was green and the speed "quite slow but going from south to north in a decided manner..."

They had both "pinched themselves" during its passage because "we did not believe this at the moment", but the thing was real, he still does not know what it was and wonders if there had been other witnesses.

On the SPICA web forum, Pierre-Marie Pelé of the website "Meteor Center" explains that it was a slow meteor because "all matches" and that there is "no need to look further..." SPICA thanks him for this explanation.

But the witness then protested that the so-called "slow meteor" was flying at "less than three meters from us", "under the trees at an altitude of two meters above the ground", that it did not crash anywhere, and that it "zigzagged between the branches of the trees."

Data:

Temporal data:

Date:

Summer, about 1999

Time:

?

Duration:

?

First known report date:

2006?

Reporting delay:

7 years.

Geographical data:

Department:

Bas-Rhin

City:

Niedersteinbach

Place:

Vers le château du Wasigenstein en forêt, OVNI sous les arbres.

Latitude:

49.049

Longitude:

7.708

Uncertainty ratio:

1 km

Witnesses data:

Number of alleged witnesses:

2

Number of known witnesses:

1

Number of named witnesses:

0

Witness(es) ages:

Youg adults or adults.

Witness(es) types:

?

Ufology data:

Reporting channel:

By the web to the ufology association SPICA.

Type of location:

In forest in mountain, UFO under the trees.

Visibility conditions:

Night

UFO observed:

Yes

UFO arrival observed:

Yes

UFO departure observed:

Yes

Entities:

No

Photographs:

No.

Sketch(s) by witness(es):

No.

Sketch(es) approved by witness(es):

No.

Witness(es) feelings:

Puzzled.

Witnesses interpretation:

No explanation, not a meteor.

Classifications:

Hynek:

NL

ALSACAT:

Unidentified, possible ball lightning.

Sources:

It happened at the Wasigenstein 7 years ago, we were a group of ten young people gone to make a small night pic nic on the ruins and enjoy the end of summer vacation when we were a friend and I seeking for small wood for a barbecue we heard a buzzing sound like electric then followed by the vision of an orb flying at the height of the first branch of the surrounding trees: the orb was of a diameter of about less th an a meter of a green color and a quite slow speed but going from south to north in a determined manner... during this event that today we still cannot say what it was we both pinched ourselves during its passage because we did not believe in it at the time: but this thing was real: question did smone witness such a phenomenon ???

Nicolas

---------------continued---------------

Pierre-Marie Pelé of the Meteor Center website gives us the explanation:

Observation of a slow meteor (everything matches).

Don't look any further...

Thnaks to him for this explanation

---------------continued--------------

Message received from the witness:

a slow meteor flying less than three meter from us and flying under the trees at an altitude of two meters from the ground have you have already seen this somewhere? it must be something else, especially since the thing didnt crash in the area and zigzaged between the trees??

Discussion:

The Wasigenstein is a ruined castle on the Niedersteinbach village land in the department of Bas-Rhin:

Pierre Marie Pelé is a meteorite hunter. He wrote books about meteorites and has a website at meteor-center.com where meteorites are pictured and sold.

If the witness is truthfull, if he is accurate in his report - which he completes only after the meteor suggestion - we have a green ball within three meters of him, zigzagging under the branches of the trees. Then, it cannot be a meteor, not even a slow meteor.

I have no definite explanation; I could think of ball lightning, the "trivial" thing the closest to what is described, but we do not know whether the weather was stormy. We do not know how the observation ended, nor how long it lasted.

About ball lightning: It normally appears only simultaneously with cloud-to-ground lightning discharge. Ball lightning is are generally spherical or pear-shaped, with fuzzy edges, diameters range from 1 cm to 1 meter, most commonly it is 10–20 cm. The brightness is roughly that of a domestic lamp, so they can be seen clearly in daylight. colors are usually red, orange, yellow being the most common. It lasts from 1 second to over a minute with a fairly constant brightness. Ball lightning moves, most often in a horizontal direction at a few meters per second, it can also move vertically, remain stationary, or zigzag erratically. Some display an affinity for metal objects and may move along conductors such as wires or metal fences. Odors like ozone, burning sulfur, or nitrogen oxides are often reported.

Evaluation:

Unidentified, possible ball lightning.

Sources references:

* = Source is available to me.
? = Source I am told about but could not get so far. Help needed.